Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

Is There Such A Thing As Too Many Carrots?

Many horse owners and caretakers offer their horses treats as a reward or as a sign of affection, and most horses willingly eat the more-traditional treats of apples and carrots. But is there such a thing as too many treats? Can feeding too many harm a horse's health?

Some horse owners feed up to 10 gallons (or more) of carrots to their horses with no ill effects, reporting that the carrots add weight and are a good water substitute. Kentucky Equine Research notes if the horse doesn't have metabolic issues, there is most likely no harm in feeding that quantity of carrots, but there is concern as to if the horse is obtaining all the dry matter and nutrients needed for a healthy diet.

Carrots are primarily water (85 to 90 percent), so they do assist in keeping a horse hydrated. Assuming one five-gallon bucket of carrots is a meal, the horse would be consuming just 1.5 pounds of dry matter, of which 25 percent is water-soluble carbohydrates. As the horse takes a while to eat through the bucket of carrots, the nearly six ounces of sugar and three ounces of soluble fiber from the carrots slowly enters his bloodstream.

The high amount of water could make the horse's manure loose and provides him with a lot of calories, so he may pack on the pounds. Additionally, the horse's coat may develop an orange tint as some of the beta-carotenes are absorbed as carotenes by body tissues. Carrots do not contain significant amounts of other nutrients.

Palmer: Want To Make Racing Safer? Get Your COVID-19 Vaccine

As COVID-19 vaccine rollouts continue to ramp up across many racing states this week, New York State Gaming Commission equine medical director Dr. Scott Palmer said the best thing racing industry participants can do to make horses safer is to sign up for a shot.

Why?

Because in analyzing data on Thoroughbred fatalities from 2020, Palmer said he has determined the COVID-19 pandemic could be considered a novel risk factor for fatal injuries last year. Overall, there were 24 percent fewer fatalities per 1,000 starts in the region in 2020 as compared to 2019, but Palmer noticed some shifts in the types of fatalities that did occur. The number and percentage of overall fatalities that occurred during racing (versus training or other activities) went down, which Palmer said was to be expected since the pandemic pause resulted in resulted in fewer race cards in 2020 versus 2019.

He did see a change in the proportion of fatalities occurring in training, however – especially in juvenile runners.

“We had a very unusually high number of fatalities in 2-year-old racehorses, particularly at Saratoga Racetrack this summer,” said Palmer, who presented the data during a teleconference hosted by the Association of Racing Commissioners International. “There are always many factors that enter into fatalities and I'm not going to try to tell you COVID was the only reason for that, but you put COVID on top of a really crummy winter where it was tough to train anyway, and it wasn't like we could move the Saratoga meet back to September.”

Once racing was cancelled, Palmer said it didn't make sense for some owners that keep their horses on the farm to send them to the track as usual and pay a day rate when they had no idea how much longer racing would be shut down. Some 2-year-olds didn't post their first official timed works until June, much closer to their debuts than usual. Out of the eighteen 2-year-old fatalities in 2020, eight occurred in horses that had never made it to the races.

“That's a really big deal,” Palmer said. “That was an enormously different experience than we'd ever had before.”

Palmer pointed out that many horses, including those 2-year-olds, did not get the usual timeframe for the bone remodeling process which is crucial to preparing the skeleton for the rigors of racing.

Equine (and human) skeletons undergo a constant cycle of response to environmental stressors, with the bone surface absorbing micro damage, then removing damaged bone cells and replacing them with new cells. In this way, the skeleton can respond dynamically to the stresses it undergoes, which is why a period of gradually-increasing workload ahead of a race prepares the horse for the rigors of running. The removal of damaged bone cells is quick, but Palmer said the creation of new, stronger bone is much slower. It's not always clear to a trainer where a horse is in the development process, since horses may appear sound throughout.

By the time horses did get to the races last year, many ran fewer times overall than they would normally have in a calendar year, reducing the opportunities for their skeletons to respond to intense exercise before the next race.

Palmer also reported that in New York, the pandemic had a serious impact on the number of out-of-competition tests (OOCT) that could be administered. OOCTs typically happen with two regulatory staff getting in a car together to collect the needed samples; during COVID-19, that kind of travel couldn't happen. It's hard to say whether trainers were using more medication out of competition to patch horses through a busy summer and fall because they simply weren't tested as much.

That's why he wants you to get vaccinated – horses, trainers, and regulatory veterinarians can only return to their regular duties as COVID-19 rates continue to come down and developing herd immunity will contribute to that, he said.

The Mid-Atlantic region has generally improved its fatality numbers with time; when expressed as a rate per 1,000 starts, racing-related fatalities are down 43 percent from 2010 to 2020, which officials find encouraging. For the first part of the decade though, the Mid-Atlantic tracked higher than the national average rate. Those rates have become more similar in the past five years, and while the national data from the Equine Injury Database is not yet published for 2020, Palmer expects they will once again be very close. The racing fatality rate in the Mid-Atlantic for 2020 was 1.39 per 1,000 starts.

The way numbers are expressed makes a big difference in their specificity and their context for regulators, and Palmer said the public and the media do not always grasp the importance of this. For example, New York saw 24 fatalities from 14,895 racing starts last year, and 42 fatalities from timed workouts; that would make it seem as though working out is more dangerous than racing in New York, but leaves out the context that there were 49,073 official timed workout events. The state's racing fatality rate was 1.6 per 1,000 starts, but its training fatality rate was 0.8 per 1,000 timed workouts. Expressing numbers as rates also makes it easy to compare data between years like 2019 and 2020 when the state had drastically different numbers of races.

The EID has yielded numerous reforms to improve racing safety, but Palmer said commissions need to begin focusing on making appropriate changes in the morning, too.

“We don't regulate training in the same way we regulate racing,” Palmer pointed out.

Even in jurisdictions where there are regulatory veterinarians observing morning training, there may not be enough of them to visually cover all parts of a track, and it's easy for a trainer to sneak a horse with questionable soundness through a different gap before the sun is up.

Video surveillance can help veterinarians pick up on problems (though, citing the case of Mongolian Groom ahead of the 2019 Breeders' Cup, Palmer pointed out it's only as good as the monitoring of that video).

Palmer believes regulators need a better idea of how much medication horses have on board for timed workouts; he pointed to California's recently-updated rules prohibiting non-steroidal anti-inflammatories within 24 hours of a timed work and subjecting horses to post-work sampling to verify compliance. Even if a jurisdiction doesn't have that rule, Palmer suggested random sampling as a fact-finding endeavor, as well as sampling any training fatalities.

Palmer also suggested that track maintenance become a priority in the mornings. He recently conducted a study of moisture levels at Belmont and found significant differences between the main and training track. During a drought, it's difficult to keep New York's sand-heavy track surfaces sufficiently watered in the afternoons, but the water trucks and harrows can make much more frequent passes over the surface than they can in the afternoon.

Data showed the main track surface at Belmont is considerably wetter than the training track surface.

“Is that good? Is that bad?” he said. “I have no idea … what I do know is we want to have a consistent surface for all horses and I'd submit to you that this is not as consistent as it needs to be.”

The final component for improved safety, according to Palmer's recommendations: mandated continuing education for licensed trainers, to make sure those who might miss this story have all the information they need.

Currently, trainer CE will be required in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Virginia in 2022. It will be a condition pending legislative approval next year in West Virginia, and is still “under consideration” in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

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Laurel Park Sees Additional Positive EHV-1 Tests; Barn Restrictions Extended

The Equine Disease Communication Center released the following update on the Laurel Park EHV-1 outbreak on March 20:

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has confirmed additional cases of EHV-1 at Laurel Park Racetrack.

A second horse in the same barn as the index horse began displaying clinical signs of EHV-1 and was confirmed positive on March 15. That horse did not respond to treatment and has been euthanized.

Following the second positive case, MDA Animal Health officials tested the remaining 20 horses housed in the same barn as the two positive horses on March 17. Those tests returned six positive results from asymptomatic horses. All positive horses have been removed from the barn and placed in isolated quarantine offsite.

The original hold order on the four impacted barns has been reset, and horses in the index barn will be retested prior to releasing the order. The department continues to work closely with Laurel Park Racetrack and Maryland Jockey Club to ensure that daily operations are able to continue as safely as possible with minimal disruption.

The post Laurel Park Sees Additional Positive EHV-1 Tests; Barn Restrictions Extended appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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UK Gluck Center And Industry Leaders Responding To An Uptick Of Foal Diarrhea Cases

The first several months of the year make up the bulk of the busy foaling season in Central Kentucky, so when the region's farms and equine practitioners began noticing increases of diarrhea in foals ages two to seven days old, there was concern.

In response, the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center is using a portion of its existing Koller Emergency Funds, and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Foundation, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and Coolmore America are leading an effort to help provide additional funding, allowing research to begin immediately.

“Anytime we recognize an increased incidence in equine health cases, such as foal diarrhea, we prepare and mobilize to further our understanding of the health issue,” said David Horohov, chair of the Department of Veterinary Science and director of the Gluck Equine Research Center. “Early detection and rapid diagnostics are at the cornerstone of what drives our research approach.”

Foals commonly develop diarrhea a week to 10 days after foaling, and veterinarians and farm owners typically have the experience and tools to respond. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, it is important for a veterinarian to evaluate foals under a month old when they experience diarrhea because they can develop life-threatening dehydration in as few as six to eight hours. Neonatal or young foals have a digestive tract, similar to humans, where small intestines are responsible for much of their nutrition absorption. Dealing with this type of attack on the small digestive system heavily impacts foals, which is a big reason why the Gluck center will focus its research efforts on this issue.

A significant increase in the illness has affected some farms, while other farms have had few to no cases. In spite of these incidences, UK has not recognized a rise in reported mortality associated with these cases and continue to monitor the situation.

UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment researchers have developed a multipronged research plan to help further the understanding of the problem.

One focus of this research plan is to expand scientists' knowledge of the foal gut environment. This will add to their understanding of neonatal gut bacteria and the effect of antibiotic treatment.

A second part of the research plan is to study the differences in mares and their foals on farms both with and without early neonatal diarrhea cases and the effect of antimicrobial drug treatment. Researchers will conduct this analysis through gene sequencing to determine an overview of type and diversity of gut microflora.

They will also use the data in this part of the study to gain insight into the effect of antimicrobial use in foals on the development of their gut microflora.

The third prong of the research will investigate a biotherapeutic approach on one farm. That farm is supplementing foals with home-fermented live yogurt instead of a commercial pre/probiotic. Research has shown that Lactobacillus spp. bacteria are among the first colonizers in the neonatal gut. Data from other species supports Lactobacillus spp. as promoting gut health and outcompeting pathogens in gut colonization.

In addition to the three studies, the UK Gluck Center and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory team has identified further potentially useful tests, including gene sequencing targeting identification of novel viruses and bacteria that may be present.

With limited Koller Emergency Funds available, the UK Gluck Equine Research Center is thankful for the additional dollars provided by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Foundation, The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and Coolmore America.

“The foundation members met March 15 and felt this research and timing was consistent with the sole mission of immediately responding to threats to the breeding industry in Central Kentucky. We are grateful to Gluck for accessing their emergency funds and everyone for responding so quickly.” said Jimmy Bell, chairman of the KTOB Foundation.

“Situations such as these highlight the relevance for a coordinated effort that can be led by our scientists at the Gluck Equine Research Center,” said Stuart Brown, veterinarian, Keeneland equine safety director and chair of the Gluck Research Foundation. “Our team mobilizes to work with equine practitioners and farms throughout the area, allowing us to further our understanding and develop our approach to work on these types of issues. We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with other partners to enhance our abilities when issues like this arise.”

“We at Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation believe in supporting timely equine health for all horses at every stage of their lives, and foal diarrhea is proving to be a concern this year on Central Kentucky farms,” said Dell Hancock, chair of the foundation. “We are happy to help facilitate research to address this condition and thank the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center for their commitment to the well-being of horses.”